There's Ice in His Veins (A Jack Frost Fanfic)

Chapter 11: Apogee

"I've never seen a moon in the sky like that, if it didn't take my breath away, at least misplaced it for a moment." -Colin Farrell

***

What smells like iron? No, not iron...salt? Salty iron? Well, it tastes like salt...

I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand and feel my heart jump. Blood comes away on my hand. Am I bleeding? Upon closer inspection, it looks like the blood isn't mine. It's all over my hoodie and pants too, with some splattered on my feet and I'm sure my face.

"Where did this come from?" I ask aloud. Then I realize that Jagalan is out of sight. I feel my face drain of color (if that's possible) and scramble to my feet, looking all around for her.

I spot a trail of blood leading deeper into the forest and almost vomit. I'm reluctant to follow it, but I have to. I move slow and shake as I do so; the blood gets thicker the closer I get.

I come to a stop and there's a man in the snow with a dagger shoved into his heart and an arrow sticking into the back of his head. I gag, reaching down to feel his nonexistent pulse.

Did I do this? Oh my God, I totally did this. Despite just finding a dead man in the snow, I sigh in relief that it's not Jagalan. Then where is she?

The man must've been a hunter. A bow is slung across his chest along with a pack of arrows, and the arrows match the one in his head. My shaking only increases as I realize what I've done. This is someone's father, or brother, uncle, grandpa, husband; this is someone's loved one, and I've unjustly taken his life.

Should I just leave him? I can't possibly just le-

"Jack?" I perk up because I hear my little sister calling me. "Jack?"

"Over here!" I yell back. I wait for her to break through the trees and hug me because she's missed me, but then I remember that I'm miles and miles away from home.

Someone does burst through the trees, but it's Jagalan. She gasps at what she sees, and I scramble to explain.

"I-I think it was me, but I don't remember, and I mean it has to have been me; I'm covered in blood! And now I don't know what to do, and I'm afraid of myself and for you and Jack I want the sun piece out of me-"

Jagalan ushers me away from the man while I continue talking way too fast. She guides me to a river and shushes me, telling me to wash my face and skin of blood. I quiet down and do so, scrubbing it off with more force than necessary.

Jack just gazes at me worriedly. "Your hair is half black now. And I swear your teeth are pointier."

"How much time do we have?" I ask as I take my hoodie off to try and get the blood off.

"Two days."

"That's it?" I'm surprised; I thought we had longer.

"In two days there will be a solar eclipse, and it's our only chance to get this out of you before it takes over completely."

I wring my hoodie out and put it back on as she keeps talking.

"We have to be at that cave, right at the center, and the path there only reveals itself at dawn the day of the solar eclipse."

"Where is this cave?" I feel I already know the answer. My eyes involuntarily move across the river, and it's like I can see past the trees. "There, I can see it. It's not far from here, maybe a day's trip, and that's if we're slow."

"Let's go then," Jagalan insists. "I'd feel better if we were outside the cave waiting."

I clean the last of the blood from underneath my fingernails and nod, picking up my staff to build an ice bridge across the rushing water.

We cross hand in hand. We're halfway across when I feel a dagger of heat explode in my chest. I cry out and fall to my knees, clutching my chest.

That hunter has killed four deer in the past three days. Impressive. But let's give him a taste of his own medicine.

Jumping from the pine I reside in, I land in a quiet squat, treading on top of the snow toward the hunter whose back is to me.

Why not give him the medicine with his own syringe?

I grab an arrow from his pouch and stab it into his skull before he can even turn. He staggers forwards, dropping the dagger he used to finish off his own kill. I quickly swipe it from the snow and drive it into his heart before he falls forwards. I turn him on his side to ensure the job is done, and wiping the dust off my hands, I whistle a tune and stride away.

I'm back in reality and staring up at the white sky. Jack leans over me, asking if I'm alright.

"I killed that man," I whimper. "I did it so easily."

"Jack, no, the sun did. How many times have we gone through this?"

"You don't know how it feels!" I snap, jumping to my feet. She recoils, but I continue. "It doesn't matter! I still feel immensely guilty for every life I take! You don't know what it's like to watch the light go out of someone's eyes and not care at all, but I do!"

Jack doesn't seem frightened, just tense and alert. Who can blame her?

"Sorry," I say. "I just hate this."

"I know." We're both silent. "Shall we continue?"

I nod and let her go ahead of me while I clear the bridge after we've crossed it.

"Jack?"

She turns.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"I mean for everything. For tolerating me, helping me, hitting me when I needed it, not giving up on me...not many people would do those things," I say honestly. "I'll never repay you."

"I'm not asking for any repayment. C'mon, it's going to get dark soon."

I half smile at her retreating figure and jog to catch up, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and kissing her forehead, earning a small smile.

"Lovebirds!" Someone from above shouts. We both move our gazes up, looking for the source. I see a small figure that's surely a person flying up and away towards the early stars.

"Is that-"

"Peter?" Jack finishes for me. "He's flying?"

"Are we losing it, Jack?" I ask, but we're not because he waves to us before he disappears, and I recognize the feather on his hat that I'd once mistaken for a dagger.

We both stare at the sky until flurries break our concentration.